Display rack



Dec. 13, 1960 L. c. EISBART DISPLAY RACK Filed D60. 1. 1959 IN V EN TOR.

LEONARD C. EISBART M H m ATTORNEY United States DISPLAY RACK Filed Dec. 1, 1959, Ser. No. 856,432

Claims. ((1211-45) The present invention relates to a display rack, and more particularly to a rack for displaying swatches of materials, such as rugs, carpeting, upholstery fabrics, drapery fabrics, or the like. 7

Many materials, such as rugs, carpeting, upholstery fabrics, drapery fabrics, and the like come on large rolls and are, available in many styles, patterns, and colors. In order to display each style, pattern and color of each material, the seller merely displays swatches or small samples of the materials. For this purpose, it is desirable to have a display rack which will hold a plurality of such swatches in a minimum amount of space, and yet will permit a portion of each swatch to be visible. The display rack should also support the swatches in such a manner so as to permit ease of viewing the entire swatch. In addition, the display rack should permit ease of removing swatches so that the outdated or discontinued styles or patterns can be easily replaced with swatches of new materials.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel display rack.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel display rack for swatches of materials.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a display rack for swatches of materials which will hold a plurality of swatches in the smallest amount of space, and still permit a portion of each swatch to be visible.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a display rack for swatches of materials which permits ease of removal and replacement of the swatches.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention there is shown in the drawings a form which is presently preferred; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

Figure l is a perspective view of the display rack of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view, partially broken away, of the display rack of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a front elevational view of one of the supporting clamps of the display rack of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a side elevational view of one of the supporting clamps of the display rack of the present invention.

Referring to the drawing, the display rack of the present invention is generally designated as 10.

Display rack 10 comprises a recangular, flat base 12 of a rigid material, such as wood or plastic. Two pairs of rails 14 are mounted on one side of the base 12, with one pair of the rails 14 extending substantially along one edge of the base 12 and the other pair of rails 14 extending substantially along the opposite edge of the base 12. The rails 14 in each pair are parallel to each other. As shown in Figure 2, the end portions 16 of each of the rails 14 are bent at right angles to the rails 14, and extend through holes 18 in the base 12. The ends of the end portions 16 are threaded, and a pair of nuts 20 are thread- 2,964,198 Patented Dec. 13, 1960 the rails 14,-with the rungs 22 being uniformly spaced along the rails 14.

A supporting clip 24 is pivotally mounted on each of the rungs 22. Each of the supporting clips 24 is a onepiece metal clip having a pair of superposed flat arms 26 and 28. The back ends of the arms 26 and 28 are connected by an integral bend 30. The bend 30 extends through substantially 360 degrees so that the back ends of the arms 26 and 28 are substantially in engagement. The arms 26 and 28 are angled with respect to each other so that the front end of the top arm 26 is spaced slightly from the bottom arm 28. The bottom arm 28 is provided with a hook 32 at its front end, which hook 32 extends around and back over the front end of the top arm 26. The hook 32 is provided with an outwardly projecting lip 34 at the free end of the hook 32. The top arm 26 is at an angle with respect to the bottom arm 28 so that the top arm 26 extends into the bight of the hook 32 and also engages the end of the book 32' at the base of the lip 34. Each of the supporting clips 24 is mounted on a rung 22 with the rung 22 extending through the bend 30 of the supporting clip 24. Thus, each of the supporting clips 24 is pivotally mounted on a rung 22.

A clamp 36 is mounted on each of the supporting clips 24. The clamp 36 may be any well known type of clamp which can be secured to the edge of the swatch of material. As shown, the clamp 36 includes a pair of superposed clamping arms 38 and 40 hingedly connected together by a pivot pin 42 at their back ends. A flattened ring 44 is secured to and projects from the back end of the bottom clamping arm 40. The clamp 36 is mounted on the supporting clip 24 by placing the lip 34 of the hook 32 of the supporting clip 24 through the ring 44, and pulling the ring 44 down along the hook 32. The ring 44 is thus seated between the front end of the arm 26 and the book 32, and the arm 26 resiliently holds the ring 44 against the hook 32, and prevents the ring 44 from slipping in back of arm 26.

In the use of the display rack 10 of the present invention, a separate swatch of material 36 is secured to each pair of aligned clamps 36 by clamping the edge of the swatch 46 between the clamping arms 38 and 40 of the clamps 36. Thus, the swatches 46 are supported in superposed relation along the display rack 10 with each swatch 46 being individually supported. By having all of the swatches 46 of the same length, each of the swatches 46 will project beyond the swatches above it. Thus, as shown in Figure 1, a portion of each of the swatches is visible so that the various colors, patterns, or styles of the swatches can be easily compared. Also, by having a portion of each swatch visible, any desired swatch can be easily located. To see any one entire swatch, it is only necessary to lift up the swatches above the swatch to be viewed. Since the supporting clips 24 are pivotally mounted on the rungs 22, each swatch 46 can be swung through approximately degrees to lift the swatch away from the swatch therebeneath. Thus, the swatches can be easily lifted to view any one particular swatch.

To remove any one swatch 46 from the display rack 10, either for viewing or for replacing, it is only necessary to remove the clamps 36 from the supporting clips 24. This is easily achieved by pressing the arms 26 and 28 of the supporting clip 24 together, and lifting the ring 44 of the clamp 36 from the hook 32. Thus, any one swatch can be easily and quickly removed and placed back on the display rack 10 of the present invention.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and, accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, rather than to the foregoing specification as indicating the scope ofthe invention. 7

I claim: i 1 I 1. A' display rack comprising a flat base, -two pairs of parallel rails mounted in parallel spaced relation on said base, each of said rails extending along said base and being mounted spaced from said base, a plurality of clamps pivotably mounted in spaced relation between the rails of each pair of rails, each clamp along one pair of rails being in alignment with a separate clampon the other pair of rails, a plurality of spaced parallel rungs secured between each pair of rails, each of the clamps being pivotably supported from a sperate rung, and a separate supporting clip pivotally mounted on each of the rungs, the clamps being removably secured to said clips, and each of said rails having a leg at each end extending substantially perpendicular to the rail, the ends of said legs being secured to the base to space the rails from the base. I

2. A display rack in accordance with claim 1 in which each of said supporting clips comprises a pair of superposed arms secured together at their back ends by an integral bend, a hook integral with the front end of the bottom arm, said hook extending around and over the front end of the top arm, and the top arm engaging the end of the hook, and the rung on which the clip is mounted extends through the bend which connects the arms.

3. A display rack in accordance with claim 2 in which the bend which connects the arms of each clip extends through substantially 360 degrees, and the arms of the clip are at an angle with respect to each other so that the front ends of the arms are spaced apart.

4. A display rack in accordance with claim 3 in which each clamp has a mounting ring which fits over the hook of its supporting clip and which is held between the front end of the top arm and the book of the supporting clip.

5. A display rack including a pair of parallel rails, means for mounting said rails to arbase, a plurality of spaced parallel rungs secured between said rails, a clamp pivotably mounted on each of said rungs, each of said clamps including a separate supporting clip which comprises a pair of superposed arms secured together at their back ends by an integral bend, a hook integral with the front end of the bottom arm, said hook extending around and over the front end of the top arm, the top arm engaging the end of the hook, and the rung on which the clip is mounted extending through the bend which connects the arms.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,557,989 Dombrowsky Oct. 20, 1925 1,866,352 Hutchings July 5, 1932 2,629,154 Micucci Feb. 24, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 6,20 v Sweden July 27. 1895 

